The new year is upon us, and with it comes another BrickMaster exclusive Star Wars kit! It's Kuat Drive Yards' popular Venator-class Star Destroyer, affectionately referred to as a "Republic Attack Cruiser." We saw things things often in the prequels, and they've been given more of a "starring role" in the new Clone Wars animated series.

Joining other Mini-sized ships, the RAC model does a good job of shrinking a massive capital ship down to a model you can fit atop a paperback book. Lots of angled pieces were used to give the ship its classic wedged shape. It even includes a transparent 2x2 cylinder to use as a stand! Obviously, the flight deck isn't open, but you wouldn't expect that on such a small-scaled ship. It's still armed with large turbolaser batteries on either side, and the 1x1 cylinders used for the engines look perfect.

The biggest thing holding the RAC back is that it's a BrickMaster exclusive. That's going to limit its collector base, of course. Still, it's a great ship, and well worth the wait.

Ratings (on a scale of 1 to 10):

Parts: 8/10 There's a new (to the best of my knowledge) slope brick in there, and plenty of angled plates. Even if you don't want to build the main model (why wouldn't you?!), it makes good fodder for MOCs.
Minifigs: n/a Mini sets don't include them.
Detail: 8/10 The completed model was larger than I expected, and the mix of gray with crimson accents looks fantastic. I also liked the use of minifig binoculars as the turbolaser batteries. The use of Technic pins as the dual bridges is a bit strange, but it still works.
Playability: 9/10 Capital ships rock by default. The swoosh factor's pretty high on this one!
Price to parts: 8/10 There's quite a few parts in here for what's supposed to be the equivalent of a $5.99 set.
Availability: 2/10 It's for BrickMaster subscribers only, unless you want to go the eBay route. That's sadly going to turn a lot of people off.
OVERALL RATING: 7/10 I liked this kit ever more than the last BrickMaster effort, the Mini Clone Turbo Tank. You can't go wrong with more capital ships, and whoever designed this one did a really great job._________________Brickshelf